Meadowcrest employees protest parish order

About 100 Meadowcrest Hospital employees demonstrated outside the facility this morning, saying they could lose their jobs if Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard doesn't release the hospital back to its owners.

Under powers granted parish presidents by state law during emergencies, Broussard commandeered Meadowcrest days after Hurricane Katrina passed to provide housing for medical staff, emergency workers and National Guard troops. He took over the hospital after Meadowcrest employees and patients evacuated.

Broussard was to release Meadowcrest on Saturday, allowing the hospital to resume limited services early next month. But on Wednesday, Broussard extended the emergency order to Oct. 26. That extension, employees said, doesn't bode well for their jobs.

"There is the potential that they would lose their jobs, " Meadowcrest spokeswoman Sandy Cordray said.